How many of you remember the huge Tea Party Rally in Washington D. C. at the Lincoln Memorial Mall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? How many of you remember the Hollywood owned media outlets calling it the “Glen Beck Rally” and implied it was taking place on MLK Day because it was racist and sought to detract from MLK day? Okay, now you 300,000,000 Americans can put your hands down. Now, how many of you knew that it was, in fact, Alveda King (the niece of Martin Luther King Jr.) who was the featured speaker and organizer, and that she held it that day to honor her uncle’s dream of a world unified? Okay, now you three people can put your hands down.

The above is a prime example of how the media can shape our thoughts without our even knowing it. Even this movie, “Runaway Slave,” has been said to be a “Glen Beck film,” even though he had nothing to do with the making of the film and is in it for less than two minutes (speaking at the rally cited above). Of course, he has advocated and promoted the film, and that is the only reason the movie has even made it to the theaters, as Hollywood will never market a film about the harm socialism has caused the Black community. Michael Moore “documentaries” are filled with half-truths and out right lies and myths, and yet Hollywood will market the films to the masses, whereas a film like this is either ignored or demonized.

I say this because I want to begin my review with a fair disclaimer. This film, addressing problems in the Black community is made by conservative Black men (although they admit the term conservative is misunderstood by many, for terms like “liberal” and “conservative” are relative terms which take on vastly different meanings across time and culture). Many of those problems relate to the liberal mindset that government (and particularly the Democratic Party) and socialism are the answer to our problems. The filmmakers, and this reviewer, believe that the primary problem is socialism and the abandonment of God (and rest assured, these two are integrally related to one another). Consequently, this review will delve into political issues, many of them very sensitive issues. I ask only that the reader not interject his/her prejudices (one way or another) into this article, but take it for what it is: opinions on how to help us become what God wants us to be. Does God want us to live for government? Does God want us to rely on others? Or does God want us to rely on Him and to provide for our families?

C.L. Bryant is a Baptist minister and former President of the NAACP chapter in Garland, Texas. By his own admission, he used to be a “progressive liberal.” His views began to change for a number of reasons, but he first began to question his commitment to modern American liberalism when he found his politics increasingly coming into conflict with his faith. It should not be hard to see why. Consider, for example, that abortions kill more Blacks than any racists groups in history (a minimum of 14 million, according to the documentary). Today, approximately 13% of the population is Black, but approximately 40% of abortions are done by Blacks! This is one reason that Blacks are now outnumbered by Hispanics, who favor “traditional” families (the code word for Biblical families). In fact, two parent families have become a minority in many Black communities. Margret Sanger’s dream is being fulfilled! Who is Margret Sanger? She is the founder of Planned Parenthood and a well documented White supremacist who believed that abortions were the best way to control the Black population. She wanted to provide free abortions to Black communities and even gained the support of many Black preachers! To this day, Planned Parenthood remains the number one provider of abortions to the Black community, despite its blatant racist ties! Why? This was the question that perplexed C.L. Bryant. How did the Black community come to this? The sad truth is that it is what Col. Allen West calls it an enslavement of the will. Another Black leader calls it tribalism.

In his words, tribalism is a desire to establish a cultural identity for a people, but that identity has become a political ideology… socialism. Socialism is an ideology that promises Utopian dreams, but has done nothing but deliver misery and despair. Historically, it has been the most dominant political ideology of the twentieth century, and, yet, over the past hundred years, it has never once increased the middle class (which Marx never spoke about) or done anything to breed the equality it promises. Why? The answers will become more clear, and I will try to distinguish between my own opinions and those of the filmmakers. Nevertheless, I was struck by a fact presented in the movie which escapes so many of us. “Fascism,” said one Black Tea Party member, “permitted private business while telling them what to do with their business, so they never got the blame.” In other words, the government was running the businesses, like Communism, but it had the advantage of being able to blame “private business” or Capitalism whenever anything went wrong. This reminded me of the events of the past few decades. Government has regulated the businesses which failed and then blamed “private businessmen.” Government’s response has been more regulation. The government will come to the “rescue” for a problem they helped to create!

Now, many of my liberal friends stridently deny being socialists, and there is little point in arguing about labels or titles. Whatever it is called, it is the doctrine that the government is the solution, but how did we come to believe this? Two critical tools were used. The first is anger. Anger, as the Bible says, blinds us to the things of God and makes it easy for government to control, as long as they can direct that anger in a certain direction. This is a simple historical reality. Dictators throughout history have always set their populous against one another. In this way, they can direct that anger against someone other than the government. Today, the Hollywood owned media has assisted (while claiming tolerance, themselves) some politicians in setting Jew against Christian, Christian against Muslim, Muslim against Jew, Black against White, White against Hispanic, Hispanic against Black, rich against poor, poor against rich. The second tool is that of victimization. Americans have been taught that we are all victims. Where there is a victim, someone must come to the rescue, but I have always thought of the analogy of “gated communities.” Every time I drive by a gated community or visit someone who lives in one, I invariably asks myself, “are they trying to keep bad people out, or are they being locked in?” It reminds me of a joke where a prison was referred to as a “gated community.” This is exactly what socialism does. The government promises to “protect us” from racism or some other evil, and, before we know it, we are locked behind the very gates which were supposed to protect us! This is the enslavement of which C.L. Bryant, Col. Allen West, Herman Cain, and others speak.

Still, none of this would be possible if revisionist history did not help spur anger. For myself, I have always been struck by the label of America as a racist nation. Does the world really not realize that slavery existed in virtually every country in history for six thousand years until we, evangelical Christians, created the abolitionist movement, whose founders are staples of Bible-believing Christians for centuries? Does the world not realize that segregation continues to this very day around the world, and that it was America which abolished the institution? In fact, George Washington had originally signed a bill into law outlawing segregation (as well as the African slave trade, which continued illegally in the South). Segregation returned to America following the Civil War, in the name of “protecting” former slaves from their former masters (see how the “gated community” works?). In 1776, the only place on Earth where slavery was truly illegal was the northern colonies, because they had been founded by Christian Puritans, Quakers, and other Bible-believing Protestant groups! Even more stunning is that many Blacks to this very day do not realize that it is the Democratic Party which supported both slavery and segregation. One fact, of which I was not aware, is brought up in the movie. The civil rights legislation which ended segregation was originally pushed by Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957, but blocked and filibustered by Democrats including John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Seven years later, when LBJ was President, he agreed to sign the exact same Republican legislation into law which he had filibustered years before! Because of this, many Blacks actually believe it was the Democratic Party which abolished segregation!

As a result of these factors, Bryant, West, and others have become convinced that the Black community have come to accept their personal identity with socialism. Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson said, “If you want to see what socialism looks like, look at the Black community.” Single parent families rely on government welfare (which does not pay if you have a working father). School drop-out rates are sky high (because Blacks have been taught that they cannot make something for themselves in a Capitalistic society). Crime is rampant (because they are told they cannot make money in a free market). Anger is preached from the pulpit, instead of the gospel of Jesus Christ (I am reminded of Jeremiah Wright and Al Sharpton). Under Obama the unemployment rate for Blacks is over 14% and is higher for Black men than Black women! Under Obama, unemployment in the Black community rose to over 16.7%. In 2008, Obama “inherited” 11% unemployment among Blacks, and 7.5%, overall.

Booker T. Washington once said, “No race can prosper until they learn that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” This could be considered the theme of “Runaway Slave.” In the film, the great Black abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass is quoted as saying, “If a Black man falls, let him fall.” He must teach himself to get back up again. Another famous quote by Douglas (not found in the movie) is, “We will never be free until we achieve economic independence.” A close friend of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas never believed that government was the answer. Liberty was the answer. God is the answer. We must be willing to place God before government. One conservative Black female Tea Party member proudly declared that “Government will not be our God!” This struck me, because of the Messianic imagery and fever with which Obama was elected. Did people really believe that a politician was the answer to six thousand years of sin? Do people really think that government is the answer?

Does anyone believe that Jesus wanted Pontius Pilate to be in control of health care? Does anyone believe that Jesus wanted Caesar to be the Pontiff? The Church has always been the leaders in charity. Free charity hospitals litter the United States, but many are now forced to start charging money as Obamacare directs where the money can go. Catholic schools, hospitals, and charities (as well as Protestant ones) are now forced to provide money for abortion services. Can we imagine if India had forced Mother Teresa to take money provided for the feeding of the children of Calcutta and direct that to providing abortion and condoms? If Mother Teresa refused, she would be fined. If she refuses to pay the fine, will the IRS simply forgive her? Right now a man is sitting in jail for holding a Bible study in his own home! Obama was quick to sue Arizona over its immigration law, but has not said a word about the same state imprisoning a man for teaching the Bible in his own home! Is it really possible to serve both God and a political party which has such an anti-Christian agenda?

One of the Black preachers in the film asks a good question. He notes that, “They say we should give back to the community, but not the family? They tell us to remember where we came from, but not where we are going?” These should be the real questions. Where are we going? Where is God in our lives? Where is the family in our lives? Where is government dependence? If God and family are not at the top, then we are at the bottom, and that is where we will remain.

I have literally been scraping by the last few years, but I have never taken a welfare check, and I never will. It took me seventeen to get a Ph.D., working at Domino’s Pizza, much of the time, to support myself and pay tuition. That is the American dream. Government is not God. When you look at all the politicians of human history, the best ones (and few they were) are the ones that did not seek more power or authority, but less. They are rulers who granted liberty. Abraham Lincoln didn’t regulate slavery; he abolished it. Segregation was primarily a government institution. That is the reason that “Christian socialism” is a myth. Karl Marx understood it perfectly, for he himself declared that “Communism begins where atheism begins.” Christ understood that sinful men will abuse any power the government is granted over our lives. Jesus did not seek political reform. Jesus did not seek the government for answers. Jesus sought only God. We must provide for one another, as Christians. The government can only replace God, and it is for that reason that we must reject this new slavery, for the gated community of government has become our prison.